Special characters: Leaves, when seen against the light, show numerous minute gland-dots; often with pinkish red tinge at basal side; sour in taste. Basal portion of the stem occasionally seen with spine­like projections, which are actually axillary branches devoid of leaves during summer.

It is a widely used plant in Ayurveda, seed is used as a vermifuge, the bark of the root in toothache and decoction of leaves as a gargle in sore-throat and in making a soothing ointment .

Nutritional and medicinal information

Pharmaceutical significance

A phenolic compound Embelin (2,5-dihydroxy-3-undecyl-2,5-cyclohexadiene-1,4-benzoquinone) is responsible for the medicinal properties of the plant is found in the fruits of Embelia tsjeriam-cottam. The chemical constituents of medicinal plants are directly associated with the harvesting time and hence the harvesting time was standardize in different forest areas of Chhattisgarh, India during 2005-08. The embelin content was determined by RP-HPLC and varied from 1.09 to 5.21% (w/w). The immature fruits collected in October contain an average of 1.67% embelin whereas mature fruits collected in December on an average contain 4.64% embelin. Hence, it can be concluded that fruits should be harvested after attaining maturity to get better quality produce and also to maintain the sustainability of plant .

Harvesting and preserving

Leaves can be collected from wild.

Propagation and Storage

Season of collection:

Leaf fall: December to January;

Flowering: February to March;

Fruiting: April to July

How to grow it?

By sowing of seeds

Method of storage:

Seeds for cultivation.

Other uses

The fruits are small, globose, succulent, and red in colour. The fruits are used as adulterant of black pepper.

Paste prepared by grinding its root along with that of Cyclea peltata, Aristolochia indica, Rauvolfia serpentina and Thottea siliquosa in lime juice is applied externally for herpes and snake bite.